No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Amazon Linux vs openSUSE Leap comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
openSUSE Leap
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
25th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Amazon Linux is 1.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 4.8%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Amazon Linux1.6%
openSUSE Leap4.8%
Other93.6%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Saurab Gnagurde - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
“Amazon Linux delivers automated security updates— including live kernel patching in AL2023—ensuring protected workloads with minimal manual effort and zero-downtime patching.”
One improvement for Amazon Linux would be stronger support for running it outside AWS. Although Amazon provides local VM images for VirtualBox and VMware, they are intended mainly for development and testing. Unlike Ubuntu, Debian, or Red Hat, Amazon Linux is not designed or fully supported as a production OS in on-prem or hybrid environments. Expanding official support outside AWS would offer more flexibility for teams that maintain mixed infrastructure. Another area for improvement is the community ecosystem. Compared to Ubuntu or Red Hat, Amazon Linux has a smaller community and fewer third-party resources or tutorials. A larger ecosystem would make troubleshooting and adoption easier. Finally, improving backward compatibility between Amazon Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023—especially around package management (DNF vs yum) and updated toolchains—would simplify upgrades for teams managing large fleets.
NK
Senior Manager at Cognizant
Provides BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots
I only use the tool for testing purposes on my team, but multiple people use it. We don't make a team effort to install the solution. When it comes to maintenance, we ask our company to buy SUSE Linux Enterprise. My team consists of 13 people. We are currently integrating the solution with Ansible to do some coding. Although not a full-fledged automation, we are integrating the solution with Ansible and executing a couple of playbooks connected to openSUSE Leap. I would recommend the solution to other users looking for an open-source solution. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I would recommend using Amazon Linux without hesitation."
"Using Amazon Linux delivered ROI in several practical ways, notably eliminating OS licensing costs, saving thousands of dollars per year compared to licensed enterprise Linux options, and reducing operational effort with an estimated 25 to 30% reduction in OS-related operational work due to AWS-native defaults and predictable updates."
"Amazon Linux is highly scalable and very reliable, making it an excellent choice overall."
"Amazon Linux cost is free to use, which provides significant cost optimization benefits that we always leverage."
"Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization by helping us to automate things on a large scale, so it was really helpful."
"Amazon Linux performed exactly as would be expected from a purpose-built cloud operating system; it is fast, stable, and gets out of your way so you can focus on your application."
"The outcomes combine massive savings of over one million in under a year by migrating workloads to Graviton-based instances running Amazon Linux, as AL two thousand twenty-three is optimized for ARM at the compiler level, allowing applications to run more effectively and function on smaller instances."
"The best feature Amazon Linux offers is its security, which is the most concern, and these features help me because it is secure to open to anyone on the internet and it does not crash."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"This solution has helped my organization's security from the use of its firewall, and the features for blocking or allowing traffic are very effective and have worked well for us."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."
"The solution is easy for me to use because the backend is derived from FreeBSD and this is something I have been using for over 20 years."
"Leap has provided me with the ability to offer what I consider Enterprise class server O/S platforms to my smaller customers who are looking to improve their competitive stances without breaking the bank."
"The solution is very stable after it is configured. It is hard to have a panel slow, a problem, misconfiguration, or any kind of loss function."
 

Cons

"Amazon Linux has some limitations, such as a smaller package ecosystem compared to Ubuntu."
"While the initial incompatibility between Amazon Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023 was a source of frustration, it ultimately forced me to learn and appreciate that puzzle."
"I rate Amazon Linux a nine out of ten. I choose this rating because I am concerned about the repository possibly containing vulnerability packages, though this could happen with any system."
"Amazon Linux could be improved by including additional features and continuous improvements in various areas."
"I gave it an eight because of the instant speed consideration."
"Amazon Linux can be improved because currently it does not provide much longer session durations and sometimes it does not provide some of the tools I want to be included."
"I see definite areas where Amazon Linux could improve because it is not a one-size-fits-all solution."
"I would love it if Amazon could provide fleet management of their operating system for updates and configuration, as that's an area I would need more attention to."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"The solution is open-source."
"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Operating Systems (OS) for Business solutions are best for your needs.
904,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
21%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Amazon Linux?
Amazon Linux can be improved by making it better. Overall, Amazon Linux has better performance, and as of now, I see no need to change anything.
What is your primary use case for Amazon Linux?
My main use case for Amazon Linux is for getting virtual servers of EC2 instances. For example, in my recent project, I have built one virtual server using Amazon Linux 2023, which gives the virtua...
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Linux?
My advice for others looking into using Amazon Linux is that it has easy features. I would rate this review a 9 out of 10.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Linux vs. openSUSE Leap and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
904,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.